Chapter 8 – Yo Ho Yo Ho (The Pirate Life's Not For Me)

At the crack of dawn, waking up with still bleary eyes, Rize forced himself up from his slumber. As he sat up, the Rider let out a huff as he stretched his back, stiff from sleeping on the floor.

"I thought sleeping on the floor was supposed to be good for your back," Rize muttered.

"Not for someone with your spine," Cipher replied, putting on an apron.

Rize just stared at his friend, the red and white gingham apron clashing with his all-black attire. "What're you doing?"

"We're on cooking duty." Cipher picked tossed his partner a blue apron, the cloth wrapped itself around Rize's face.

"…thanks…" Rize got up and put on the apron. "Any idea what to make?"

"Not really. I was just going to go through their kitchen and see what they have, then go on from there."

The Gokaigers were seated at the dining table, staring blankly at the breakfast that was served.

There was a plate of bacon, eggs, sausages and grilled tomatoes, another with toast, and a bowl of salad. It was not this regular hearty breakfast that caused the pirates' reaction.

No, it was the platter of potato latkes that were unnaturally red.

Rize and Cipher stood by the kitchen doorway, waiting for the space pirates to begin eating.

'Alright, next time, just let me do the cooking,' Cipher mentally communicated.

'Oh come on! I only put in a teaspoon of chili powder! I don't know how they got that red!'

While Rize and Cipher continued their mental conversation, the Gokaigers began placing their breakfast onto their plates. After taking their share, the pirates cautiously took a latke each. They all raised the fried potatoes to their lips, the whiff of chili wafted into their noses as tears started form in their eyes.

The pirates looked at each other and then they all took a bite. As the six continued to chew on the potato pancakes, they all reacted differently.

Marvelous seemed to enjoy the dish and quickly made for seconds.

Joe cleared his throat and took a sip of water, trying his best not to react.

Luka forced herself to finish off the pancake, then downed her glass of water.

Ahim, while a little irritated by the spiciness, gave Rize a polite smile and nod, indicating her somewhat bitter enjoyment.

Don piled quickly took a bite of his toast, trying to ease the burning sensation on his tongue.

Gai gulped down some water before letting out an audible breath.

"So…good or bad?" Rize asked.

While all reacted differently to the latkes, it was somewhat well received by the pirates. Surprised by the reception, Rize also went to try out the latke, quickly taking a bite.

The others looked at Rize with wide eyes.

"Are you alright Rize?" Ahim asked.

The Rider's face immediately turned red like a tomato, sweat streamed down his face. Breathing heavier than usual, Rize nodded, he then picked up and drained the pitcher of water on the table into his gullet. Once finished, Rize cleared his throat.

"I'll go refill this for you," Rize wheezed out as he went back into the kitchen.

"Is he going to be okay?" Don asked, still recovering from the latke.

Cipher merely shrugged as he sat down to eat as well.

Recovering from breakfast, Rize was walking about the town with Marvelous, who had a blank and tired look on his face. The Rider quirked a brow as he then looked up in thought as he quickly thought back to how he got into this situation in the first place.

"Hey Marv," Cipher called out to the captain as he walked out from the kitchen, "Mind going out to the shops? Your pantry's running a bit low."

"Why are you asking me to go?" Marvelous asked back.

"Probably because you're the only one who's not doing anything."

Marvelous then looked around the cabin. He saw everyone was busy cleaning the place.

"When did everyone start cleaning?"

"Sometime during your nap." Cipher then grabbed hold onto Marvelous' shoulder and pulled him off his chair. "Now come on, either you also help out with the cleaning, or go out, get some fresh air, and bring back some groceries."

Marvelous took a moment to ponder his decision, before getting up from his chair and grabbing his coat.

"Alright, I'll go down to the store."

"Bring Rize with you as well," Cipher added on.

"Why?" Marvelous raised a brow.

"Cause I want him to get out more as well…also, I still don't trust you to go out by yourself."

"You're never going to let that go are you."

"Something on your mind?" Marvelous asked.

"What did you do to make Cipher not trust you?"

Marvelous snorted. "A story for another time."

"Fair enough."

As the two continued to walk in silence, a group of women passed by them. Rize took a moment to stop and look at the women, before moving on.

"One of them catch your eye?" Marvelous also looked back at the women.

"No, just looking, that's all." Rize felt Marvelous grab a hold of his collar and started dragging him towards the women. "What are you doing?"

"Cipher said he wanted you to get out more," Marvelous answered.

"I think he meant in terms of getting more exercise."

"Well, consider this an exercise from me. Hey!"

The women stopped and turned around, widening their eyes in shock as Marvelous and Rize approached them. The pirate and Rider stopped, the former pushed the latter forward, egging him on. Rize looked back and forth between the captain and the women, before awkwardly waving his hand.

"Uh…hi…"

The sun had begun to set when Cipher and the other Gokaigers wondered where Marvelous and Rize had gone off to.

"Man, I didn't expect those two to take this long to buy groceries. Where the hell could they be?"

"Maybe they got distracted on their way to the store?" Ahim hypothesized, taking a sip of Earl Grey.

Cipher groaned as he placed his hand over his face. "Ah shit, I knew I should've gone with them."

Meanwhile, at a karaoke bar.

"GET WILD AND TOUGH/HITORI DE WA TOKENAI AI NO PAZURU WO DAITE!"

Rize sang with amateurish passion without a care in world, highly inebriated, while Marvelous and the women they met earlier, cheered the Rider on.

As Rize continued to belt out the vocals, the phone inside the room rang as Marvelous picked it up.

"Yeah?...Already?...Yeah, yeah, I'll let them know." Marvelous hung up the phone. "Sorry ladies times up." The women began lightly protesting as the fun was reaching its end. The red-coated captain went over to Rize and took the mic out of his hand, then steadied the latter by wrapping his arm over his shoulder. "Come on everybody, let's get going."

The next day, Rize opened his bleary eyes and saw that he was back at the Gokai Galleon. He looked around to see the Gokaigers, sans Marvelous, sitting at the table eating breakfast, while Cipher was walking up to him with a cup in hand.

"Oh man, the hell happened?" Rize muttered.

"That's what I wanted to ask you," Cipher said as he gave his partner a cup of tea. "Where the fuck did you two go?"

"Well, we were going to get groceries, then a group of women walked by, and Marv-"

"Alright, I get the picture," Cipher patted Rize's shoulder, "Well, at least you had a good time."

"Did I? I remember talking to the girls, then we went out to eat, Marvelous ordered us some drinks, then things get a bit blurry once we hit the karaoke bar."

"Sounds like a fun time."

"If you say so." Rize took a sip of his tea. "Oh yeah, sorry for not bringing back any groceries."

"Oh, it's fine, I just got some stuff back home…Oh yeah, one of the doors on the ship leads back to our house."

"That's convenient." Rize looked around and noticed that Marvelous was not present. "Is Marvelous still sleeping?"

"Yeah, you guys must've hit the sauce pretty hard last night," Navi responded. "I haven't seen him this wasted in a while."

Sitting up from the sofa he slept on, Rize finished his drink and placed it onto the table. "Alright, so, what's on the agenda for today?" He was then met with a white towel draped across his face, which he then removed to see Joe standing before him.

"I'm going out to train, and I need someone to practice with."

"Because you haven't fought me yet?" Rize asked unsurely.

"No, because Cipher said that you need to learn from people more skilled than you." Joe then left the cabin to make his way off the ship.

Rize and Cipher then stared at each other, and then shrugged simultaneously.

"Well, neither of you are wrong." Rize then got off the couch and followed Joe off the Gokai Galleon.

Joe and Rize were now at a shrine sparring against each other. The former wanted to gauge how proficient Rize's combat capabilities were, asking the latter to fight with only his natural strength. The Rider was more than happy to comply, a decision that he would begin to regret.

Letting out a quick slash from his sabre, Joe pushed back a defensive Rize, who stumbled a couple of steps before recovering. The ponytailed swordsman let out a muted huff as he warmed up his arm.

Rize, on the other hand, was panting heavily. Beads of sweat slid down the Rider's forehead as he tried to remain calm. Readjusting his grip on his sword, Rize went back into his defensive stance, waiting for Joe to make his next move.

The blue pirate calmly walked forward, causing Rize minutely step back. Noticing the Rider's movement, Joe broke into a quick dash and started swinging his sword.

Rize felt his heart pounding as he blocked and avoided the swings. As the adrenaline in his blood continued to flow through his body, Rize felt his instincts trying to kick in, as his Channel flared over his arms.

However, not yet wanting to use his powers, Rize forced his Channel to deactivate. But when he finally managed to do so, Rize looked up and tried to block Joe's blade.

Joe's sabre halted swiftly, just a millimetre away from Rize's neck before the pirate lowered his weapon back to his side.

"Man," Rize muttered, taking a seat on the steps to the shrine, "I really have been relying on my Channel a lot."

"Well, considering that your main experience in combat has been training with Cipher, and fighting against enemies stronger than you…I'm not surprised." Joe picked up his water bottle and took a sip before continuing. "With that said, your experiences have definitely benefitted you."

"How so?"

"Although you didn't land a hit on me, you did manage to block every one of my attacks."

Rize took a moment to think over Joe's comment. "Huh…well, I was pretty focused on your movements."

"You've gotten a grasp on defence, but you are very hesitant to go on the offensive. I'm guessing that's because you're observing your opponent and trying to find openings."

Rize shrugged. "That, and I really don't like getting hurt."

"That kind of mindset is what causes people to get hurt."

"So, I should be taking more chances to attack?"

"In a way. Just don't rely on defending too much."

"Alright then…shall we continue?" Rize asked, getting up from the steps.

Joe snorted as he placed his bottle back and walked back to the centre of the grounds.

The two went into position as they readied their weapons. While Joe stood passively, adjusting the sword in his hand, Rize closed his eyes and took in a couple of deep breaths. Once both fighters were ready, they started up their spar again.

This time, however, Rize was the one to charge in. The Rider let out a quick succession of strikes from his wooden sword, causing Joe to immediately block and parry. However with the last attack, Rize let out a powerful stab. While Joe was still able to block the attack, Rize had managed to push the master swordsman back a couple of metres.

As Joe recovered from his stumble, the blue Gokaiger let out and amused snort as he readied his blade once again. Rize had done the same as he prepared himself for Joe's counterattack. The two then broke into a dash as they charged at each other.

Stabbing his Gokai Sabre into the dirt, Joe wiped off the sweat on his forehead and took a seat on the steps. Rize, on the other hand, was lying on his back, somewhat dazed from the beating he took from Joe.

"You alright there?" Joe asked.

"…Yeah…" Rize sat up, letting out a groan, "Oh boy, I'm gonna be feeling that one tomorrow."

The two then sat in silence, letting the gentle breeze cool them down. About half a minute passed when Rize spoke up.

"So, how'd I do?"

"You still need a lot of work…but you're getting there I guess."

Rize nodded gratefully.

"Oh! Joe!" A young man's voice called out, causing the two to look towards the entrance. A group of middle school students wearing navy blue kendo-gis and hakamas enthusiastically ran up to Joe.

Rize, still sitting on the ground, watched as Joe, somewhat awkwardly, listened to the kids talk to him. After a while, the kids left, causing Rize to get up from the ground.

"Who're they?" Rize asked.

"Just some kids who were passing by when I was practicing. For the last couple of weeks, they've been coming by to watch me practice…couldn't really tell them to go away…"

Noticing Joe's voice trail off, Rize snorted and then smiled gently. "I don't blame them. I mean, you're one of the people who saved this planet, plus you're a pretty badass dude."

Joe scoffed at Rize's words, shook his head lightly then picked up his gear. "I think that should be it for today."

"If you say so." Rize then dispersed his bokuto and began to leave the shrine grounds with Joe. "Wanna get something to eat before we head back?"

"Long as you're paying."

"…you know what, that's fair…"

"Thank you for shopping with us again Miss Millfy," the clerk bowed as he handed the bag of clothing over to Luka. The yellow pirate smiled as she took the bag, then passed it over to Rize, who was already holding three large bags of luxury goods and clothing.

While the Rider was still sore from his training session with Joe, he powered through the pain and continued to carry Luka's bags.

"Now then, where to next?" Luka mused to herself, pursing her lips in thought.

"What do you have in mind?" Rize asked.

"Well, there's a boutique shop that has some new stock in today, and there's a café nearby that has some really nice cakes."

Looking down at the bags in his hands, Rize looked back at Luka. "Which one's closer?"

"They're actually both on the same street, but if you mean which one we'll be passing by first, then it'll be the boutique."

"Might as well get the necessities out the way I guess."

The two then began making their way to the boutique store.

"You know," Luka began, "I'm a bit surprised. Usually, whenever I get one of the guys to come with me, they usually complain about having to carry all the things I buy…well, mostly Don and Gai anyways. But you haven't really said much during this trip, apart from whenever I ask you your opinion."

"I don't really mind carrying the bags and whatnot. I'll be honest, if we were doing this before Cipher took me under his wing, I'd be struggling. But now? It's not really that bad. A bit boring, but not bad."

"I suppose most guys aren't interested in clothes shopping. What would you be buying then?"

"I dunno, probably some games, some toys, maybe a book or two."

Luka chuckled. "I knew you were going to say something like that."

"What can I say?" Rize shrugged. "I'm pretty transparent." As they continued to walk, Rize felt his eyes track as he saw a downtrodden man with his head in his hands. Rize placed the bags down and quickly tapped on Luka's shoulders, asking her to pause for a moment. "Hey man, what's wrong?"

The man looked up to see Rize walking over to him. The former let out a sigh as Rize sat beside him. "My girlfriend just dumped me."

"Oh…" Rize felt his mind race as he contacted Cipher.

'Yeah?' Cipher responded.

'Cipher, I need some help-'

'Rize, you walked up to the guy, and he said that he has relationship problems. Just listen to him.'

The line went dead as Rize was brought back to the conversation.

"-I don't know what happened," the guy finished his sentence.

'Holy shit, was he talking this entire time?' "W-well…what did she say when she left you?"

"She said that she had met this psychic, and that they told her that I was cheating on her. I would never do anything like that! I've never cheated in my entire life!" The man proclaimed.

"Never?" Rize asked.

"…Okay, maybe a few exceptions here and there, but I would never cheat on my girlfriend! I loved her!"

"…You know where I can find this psychic?"

"W-why?"

Rize let out a huff of air as he looked at Luka, who furrowed her brows at him. "…morbid curiosity."

"Are you seriously going to look into this?" Luka asked as she and Rize were walking down an alleyway.

"What? You're telling me that you're not the least bit interested?" Rize retorted.

"Oh I am…I just don't know why we're doing this."

Rize took a moment to mull over Luka's argument. "Well…unfortunate timing I suppose."

Luka sighed as the two stopped in front of the psychic's place, which had nothing outside that made it stand out, apart from a small sign hanging beside the rusty door that said 'Anna's In'.

"This is the place…" Rize muttered as he looked at the coordinates the heartbroken man gave him. He looked to Luka, as she opened the door, and they entered on in.

Inside was a very dimly lit room, filled with various trinkets that gave off a very mysterious vibe. In the centre of the room was a round table with a dark blue, velvet cloth draped over it and a crystal ball, and at the back was a doorway that had curtains covering the other side.

"This is kinda stereotypical," Luka commented as she took a look at the various gold and gaudy looking bric-a-bracs lying on the shelfs, "And already demonstrating some strange taste in decorations."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose," a woman with a velvet voice responded from behind the curtain. The drapes opened as a woman of mystery and elegance walked out, wearing a violet veil and red robes. "Though, I guess I probably could have chosen some more…appealing curios." She then took a seat at the table. "But I don't believe that you two are here to give me design advice."

"No, we're not, and sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Luka replied with a more polite and formal tone.

Rize turned to Luka as she continued to converse with the psychic and noticed the change in the pirate's stance. The usually laidback manner the tomboy gave off had been replaced with a more polite and somewhat more ladylike demeanour. 'Huh, she must've taken some lessons from Ahim.'

"-isn't that right, babe?"

Rize's eyes widened in shock, noticing that Luka and the psychic were both looking at him. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

Luka let out a chuckle as she hopped over to Rize. "Oh, you~" She then nudged Rize somewhat harshly, causing him to stumble slightly from the action. "He's always like this." Without warning, Luka then wrapped an arm around Rize's waist.

At that moment, it took every ounce of willpower for the Rider to not collapse. He gulped the massive build-up of saliva in his mouth and activated his Channel to calm himself down.

"What can I say? I always get lost when I looked at my girl," Rize wrapped an arm around Luka's shoulders. 'Luka, mind catching me up here?' Rize asked telepathically.

'This is Anna, she's a love psychic, and we're a couple who heard about her from a friend.'

'Well, this is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to being in a relationship,' Rize thought to himself.

'Wow, that's totally not depressing,' Luka replied mentally.

Rize cursed at himself as he cut off the conversation as they removed their arms from each other and took a seat.

"So, before I begin," Anna leaned in with a smirk and looked at Rize, "how did someone like you manage to get together with one of Earth's saviours?"

A barrage of thoughts sped through Rize's mind as he tried to formulate an answer, nearly experiencing an aneurysm when he finally did manage to make one. "Well, I'm still kind of in disbelief as well. We kind of just bumped into each other one day, then one thing led to another and here we are."

Rize's heart pounded as he stared back at Anna, hoping that his act was believable enough for the woman to fall for it. The mystic closed her eyes and hummed with a brisk nod.

"A meet cute. Cliché, but still quite an event." Anna opened her eyes, and let out a piercing glance at Rize and Luka. "Though, that does bring up the question. Why come to see a seer of romance, if you two are already in a relationship?"

"W-well, Luka and her friends are about to head off…and we were kind of wondering if you could give us a reading on what our relationship would be like afterwards."

"Ah, so you wish for me to read your future?" Anna chuckled as she snapped her fingers. The front door slammed shut and the lights in the room shut off as the candles illuminated, creating an eerie, yet intimate atmosphere. Placing her hands over the crystal ball, the ball glowed brightly as she began to concentrate. "…Yes…I see something…something bad…a conflict that will cause your relationship to crumble…I see someone getting between you…and this person will cause you two to divide from each other."

Though skeptical, Rize decided to prod for a clearer answer. "What does this person look like?"

"…A sketchy looking man…bald, with a face that looks like he is up to no good…" Anna's eyes snapped open, causing the crystal ball to stop glowing, the candles to extinguish, and the lights to turn back on. "That is all I can say."

"I see…" Luka trailed off as she glanced at Rize, who exchanged the same glance back. "Well, thank you for the fortune…I guess…" There was a short yet awkward silence.

"We'll take our leave," Rize concluded for the both as they got up from their seats and left the room.

Outside, Rize and Luka stood there for a moment before the latter then dipped his head apologetically.

"So, did you get anything out from that?" Luka asked with a raised brow. "Other than wanting to pretend to have a girlfriend?"

"Well, I was trying to see if she was a con artist, taking money from women by telling them that they're partners were being unfaithful, and using that to get customers…but she just let us walk out of there without giving her any money."

Luka was about to retort but found herself unable to do so. "You think she might be the real deal?"

"Either that, or she immediately knew that we weren't in a relationship to begin with and diverted our attention from the problem at hand."

"So, nothing basically?"

As Rize was about to answer, he was interrupted by a gruff callout. The Rider and Pirate turned to see a sketchy looking bald man with a pipe in hand, walking up to them.

"Or she might have planned this out."

"Hey, did you two just come out of there?" The bald leader asked.

"Y-yeah?" Rize answered, causing Luka to glare at him.

"Is that 'psychic' in there?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm here to give that bitch a piece of my mind!" The man cried out. "My girl came here to see this psychic, and then she left me! Saying that I was cheating on her!"

While the man rabbled on, Rize let out a sound of understanding. "Alright now I get it."

"Get what?" Luka asked.

Rize raised a finger, causing Luka to pause, as he took a step forward. "Alright, look. I understand what's going on here now. Put down the pipe, and I can assure you, that things can be solved without violence."

"Why the hell not!?" The bald man cried out. "You can't reason with women! You gotta get physical to get them to understand what's what."

"Excuse me!?" Luka cried out.

"Look! I can get you back together with your girlfriend, if you just put down the pipe and let me talk to the woman inside."

"You think I'm a fucking idiot!?" The man pointed the pipe into Rize's face. "You're working with that bitch, aren't you?!"

"Sir," Rize moved the pipe away from his face with a finger, his temper simmering, "I assure you, I'm not working with her. Let's just talk about this-"

"Well I ain't the mood for talking!" The pipe-wielding man then raised his weapon and prepared to strike Rize. But before he could, Luka stepped in and kicked the man in the nut sack. The man went down in an instant.

"Thanks," Rize said, turning off his Channel.

"What can I say, sometimes you got to get physical to get certain people to understand." Luka then let out a puff of annoyed air and pushed away the few stray strands of hair in her face.

Rize let out an amused hum before stepping back towards the door and rapped his knuckles against it. "You can come out now!" He called out.

Pulling the door out a little, Anna poked her head between the opening and peeked. Noticing that the angry bald man was truly indeed taken care of, the mystic opened the door and stepped out into the open.

"Thank you so much," Anna dipper her head gratefully. "I was worried that a customer's ex would get mad and take it out on me. Thankfully you two had come in at the right time."

"You know, you're playing a dangerous game," Rize deadpanned. "Interfering with people's relationships like that."

"Some people just want to know what their romantic future holds in stock for them. It's not my fault for wanting to ensure that people know whether they're right for each other."

"You sure not doing this out of jealousy?" Luka asked.

"Excuse me?!" Anna cried out.

"Oh please, I haven't survived this long being a clueless idiot. I can immediately tell a person's character just by looking at them. You might be the real deal, but you're obviously hopeless at love."

Anna was now slumped on her knees, her eyes almost devoid of life after Luka's seemingly true tirade.

Rize's eyes darted between Luka and Anna, completely unsure of what to do now.

"Could you be any blunter?" Rize asked.

"Oh please, you were also thinking it."

"Look, Miss Anna…," Rize knelt down beside the psychic, "I'm not the best the person to talk about this kind of stuff. But you're a beautiful woman, I'm sure that someday you'll find the right person for you."

"You think so?" Anna's eyes started to regain their colour.

"Well, if my sadly profound knowledge in chick flicks has anything to say, it's that everyone will find someone."

Anna chuckled and got onto her feet. "I suppose that I'll find the right man someday."

"And you won't be messing with people's relationships anymore, yeah?"

"A girl has to make a living," Anna retorted.

"Alright fine," Rize relented, "just be subtle, and do it for the right reasons."

"That I can do."

Rize and Luka then departed from Anna's store and made their way back to the main street to continue with their day.

"You think she'll actually keep her promise?" Rize asked.

Luka shrugged. "Who knows. You just have to trust her to keep her word." Luka then looked up at Rize. "Speaking of-"

"I know, I know. You can buy whatever you like at the café. My treat."

Luka smirked and nudged Rize playfully. "Now you're getting closer to boyfriend material."

'That doesn't inspire me with confidence,' Rize thought to himself, suppressing a sigh.

"It shouldn't," Luka responded, causing Rize's eyes to widen in shock.

Meanwhile, after Rize and Luka left, Anna stared down at the exit they took and smiled.

"They're gone now," the psychic called out.

The man lying on the ground opened his eyes and slowly got onto his feet, cupping his still tender crotch.

"Miss Anna," the gruff looking man now spoke with a polite, formal tone, "you know I would do whatever you asked…but you didn't say anything about getting hit in the jewels."

"While I can foretell the future, Tau, I can't see every minor detail."

"Not much of a psychic then, are you sister?" Another male voice called out. Anna and Tau turned to face the newcomer, the formerly crying man who Rize and Luka had met beforehand.

"This coming from the 'actor'?" Anna snarked back.

"Hey, I might not win awards any time soon, but at least I managed to get their attention," The psychic's brother smugly replied.

Anna sighed and turned her head to the side. "Oh please, that wasn't acting. I've seen those tears every time you got dumped by a girl."

"That's because you keep badmouthing me! You loveless hag!" Sam pointed an accusing finger at Anna.

Before the siblings' argument could grow any further, Tau stepped in between them and held his hands out placatingly. "Now, now you two, remember what your father said." Anna and Sam paled slightly, before ultimately burying the hatchet for the moment. Tau let out a relieved sigh then turned to Anna. "So, Miss Anna, what are your impressions on the young man?"

"…I don't know…while quite unimpressive…there is potential within him. I'll have to keep a close eye on him and Cipher before I make my final impression."

"Well, knowing Ci, there must be something about the kid that spoke to him."

"Perhaps," Anna then looked up into the sky, staring at the Gokai Galleon, "but I guess we'll just have to trust our old friend on this one."

Standing at the computer console, Don tapped on the screen, running another diagnostic check as he tried to get the Gokai Galleon's engines working. The blonde let out a hum as the screen showed that all systems were green.

Trudging up the steps, a sweat covered Rize holding a toolbox entered the room with audible breaths.

"Is it working yet?" Rize asked.

"No," Don answered, "did you-"

"I made sure that all of the wires were connected properly. I checked that the engines had power. And yes, I tried turning it on and off." Rize crashed onto the sofa as Cipher walked out with a large pitcher of water and handed it to his partner.

"No luck?"

"It doesn't make sense," Don scratched his head. "Everything seems fine…so what seems to be the problem?"

"Want me to go inside and check?"

"Inside?" Don furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, I can just go inside the engine and see what the issue is."

"Wait, like physically?"

"…You do realise that I'm essentially a ghost, right?"

Don then looked to Rize, who had just finished downing the pitcher. The Rider let out a sigh and shrugged. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

Down in the engine bay, Don and Rize waited for Cipher to finish up his inspection, the latter decided to make some small talk with the team's doctor.

"So…how've you been lately?"

"Tired, but also pretty relaxed now that the Zangyack are gone…for the most part, I guess," Don answered, before looking to Rize, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing, just making small talk." After a moment of silence, Rize opened his mouth again. "The ladies must be clamouring for you, now that you're a big hero, right?"

"Where's this coming from?" Don asked, taken completely off guard from the sudden turn.

"I'm just saying, you can now prove that you're the strongest man in the universe, right?" Rize pulled out a magazine, showing an image of Don dressed up as a hero.

"Oh come on!" Don ripped the magazine out of the Rider's hand. "I already went through with this with the others, I don't need you to make fun of me over this!"

"Woah! Who said I was making fun of you Loto? I was just saying that there's some substance behind that image now."

Don furrowed his brows at Rize, before looking back at the magazine. The blonde's face then started to soften up as he began to contemplate.

Stepping out of the engine, Cipher let out a sigh as he wiped metaphorical sweat off his forehead. "Well, I took a look inside, things look fine. But a piston ring seems to be a little worn out."

"Piston ring? Isn't that for combustion or steam engines? Doesn't this thing run on photon energy, or whatever renewable energy source exists in this universe?"

"Since when the hell did you become a mechanic? Besides, regardless of what energy source this uses, it should still have something common with other engines. Though you do make a good point about the fuel source this ship's running."

"It's running on Enetron," Don answered, looking up the engine's specifications on a tablet.

"Oh well, what do you know, retroactive continuity," Rize commented.

A beep on Don's tablet caught everyone's attention as they looked up the diagram for the Gokai Galleon's engine.

"Okay, so it says here that the piston ring is 17 millimetres in diameter."

"17 millimetres?" Rize repeated. "That's…rather small for a piston of an engine this big."

"17 millimetres…what's usually that size?"

The three men took a moment to think upon it, before Don experienced a light bulb moment. Rize and Cipher also came to the same conclusion, but then stopped to look at one another. The three of them simultaneously concluding where they could find one in short notice. Time slowed to a crawl as they all shot their hand up and shouted-

"Not it!"

Unfortunately for Rize, Cipher and Don had managed to call out first.

"Oh, you've got to be-!

As Luka was looking through her spoils, and recording them in a logbook, Rize poked his head out around the corner then retracted back as he turned to Cipher and Don.

"There's no fucking way she'll let me take a ring, not without selling my soul."

"Well, that's something you'll just have to do my friend."

"Cipher, you're a fucking ghost, can't you just…you know, take one while she's asleep?"

Cipher shook his head. "No can do buddy. Besides, Don said that she has a sixth sense with her belongings. If I did take one, she'd probably know it was me."

"It's true," Don nodded frantically. "One time, I borrowed a piece of paper from her, she immediately began interrogating me and said that if I don't get her a new one, she'd increase my debt."

"Did you ask her beforehand?" Rize asked.

"It was a piece of paper! I shouldn't have to ask!" Don shouted with a hush.

Rize held his hands up placatingly, backing away from the conversation as he stopped to calm his nerves and made his way over to the former thief.

"Hey Luka-"

The yellow pirate tossed a plain, platinum ring to Rize, the latter almost fumbling the catch.

"You know, there was no point in trying to whisper right? I could hear you guys from here."

Rize blinked as he turned around to see that Cipher and Don had ran off.

"Hey Rize," Luka called for the Rider's attention, "You're hanging out with Ahim tomorrow, right?"

"If the recent sequence of events has told me anything, yeah I am."

"Make sure you don't do anything to make her upset, alright? Or I'll make sure that debt of yours will truly be unpayable."

As the locked eyes for a moment, Rize smiled gratefully then headed back down to the engine room. Luka herself also smiled after the Rider left, before heading off to the fridge to grab another piece of cake that Rize had bought for her.

Letting out a loud yawn, Rize blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he continued to walk down the road.

"Are you alright Rize?" Ahim asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired I guess."

It was about 10 am on a warm Spring day when Ahim asked Rize to accompany her during her walk. The trip was uneventful, though that is not to say that it was a bad thing.

The former royal and the Rider made their way to a park and sat on a bench underneath a tree. The two watched as kids played with each other, while their parents and caretakers watched on, and friends and couples enjoying their time with each other during this short moment of peace.

"It always warms my heart to see people during peaceful times," Ahim spoke up with a calm smile on her face.

Rize nodded in agreement as he continued to people-watch with the pink pirate. While he concurred with Ahim's sentiments, Rize couldn't help but also feel a slight tinge of sadness in his heart.

"But…at the same time, I can't help but also feel envious as well."

"How so?"

"I'm always reminded of my family back home, and how simple life used to be back then…and while I've come to terms with my loss…I can't help but always think about my mother and father…"

There is a short melancholic silence.

"That's why we fight, right? To make sure that no one else has to go through the suffering that we faced."

Ahim nodded, maintaining a serene expression on her face.

"Does it…ever get easier?"

"Does what?" Ahim asked.

"Losing the people you love. Does the pain ever get easier to deal with?"

The Famille Princess took a moment to reply. "Honestly? No. It doesn't. But it shouldn't mean that it stops us from living our lives. Like you said, that pain, while it will never stop hurting, can help us strive to maintain hope for others."

Rize's spirits rose a little after hearing Ahim's words. "It also helps to have something else to fight for, right?"

Ahim smiled. "Yes, it does help."

As the two continued to watch the civilians go about their day, Rize leaned back in his seat, making himself more comfortable.

"Will you miss this planet when you and the others leave?"

"Of course. I may have only been here for a short amount of time…but I must say, I could consider this place a third home for me."

"And the second would be the Galleon?" Ahim nodded as Rize snorted in laughter. "Well, you've learnt quite a bit about Earth, I suppose it would only be fair if I learnt about your home planet."

"Really?"

"Of course. Besides, catharsis is supposed to help cleanse the soul."

As they both stared at each other, Ahim chuckled as she relented and began telling Rize about the planet of Famille.

After a rather eventful week of hanging out with the main five Gokaigers, Rize was sitting at the dining table with Gai, polishing the countless array of Ranger Keys laid about on the table. The Rider currently had GaoRed's Key in his hand and observed the trinket with complete fascination.

"Pretty amazing, right?" Gai asked, breaking Rize out of his focus. "I remember the first time I laid my eyes on them, I couldn't help but be mesmerised as well."

"How'd the others take that?"

"They thought I was acting strange, but I didn't mind. The powers of my heroes were literally right in the palm of my hand."

Rize couldn't help but get infected by Gai's enthusiasm, letting out a smile as he finished polishing the key and moved onto another one.

"Hey Gai?" The silver pirate looked up, "Hope you don't mind my asking…but, what was your life like before become a Sentai Warrior?"

"Oh, it was the usual high school graduate thing. Deciding whether I wanted to go to university, or go straight into the work force. I sent out a bunch of applications to different workplaces, studied for placement exams, worked part-time in between."

"Were they all affiliated with past Sentai teams?" Rize asked with a raised brow.

Gai chuckled and nodded somewhat shyly. "Yeah. Turns out, there are a lot of like-minded people, who wanted to work at certain companies or agencies because their favourite Sentai were a part of them."

"I'll be honest, I'd have done the same thing if I came from this universe. Lord knows how much of a pain in the ass it already is to find a job in my world." Rize picked up the AbaRed Key and began polishing. "How'd your friends and family take it when they found out about you joining the Gokaigers?"

"My friends were pretty excited when they found out. My parents? They were a little worried at first, but came around when I showed that I could handle myself."

"Well, nice to know that your parents supported your path."

"Oh no, they were still worried I wouldn't be able to get a job, but plenty of our Senior Sentai Warriors seem to balance their lives pretty well."

"That is true," Rize nodded in agreement, "But hey, now you have the connections."

Gai shook his head, "I wouldn't want to do things that way. If I'm going to get a job, I want to do it knowing that I got it through my own determination."

Hearing those words, Rize couldn't help but shed a couple of tears at Gai's sincerity, and naivety, but was also jealous at the fact that Gai would most definitely be able to get a job due to his determined nature.

"What brought these questions up?" Gai asked as he looked straight at Rize.

"Curiosity mainly. Plus I just like hearing about people's lives before they got to where they are. You know, being a nosy asshole."

Gai couldn't help but chuckle at the last statement. "Well, it'd be only fair to ask, what was your life like?"

"Oh, nothing worth mentioning really. That's why I ask other people, because they're bound to have something more interesting that mine."

"That can't be true. Come on! My ears are open for business!" Gai cheerfully said.

Rize smiled forlornly. "Perhaps some other Gai." The Rider then looked back down at the key in his hand, before staring at the piles of other Ranger Keys, as an idea popped into his head. "Hey, stop me if this sound dumb, but has this ever crossed your mind?"

As the other Gokaigers returned to the galleon, they heard sounds of dice rolling, coming from the main cabin. They all looked each other strangely before entering the room, only to see a trio of manchildren playing with their Ranger Keys.

Gai and Rize were still sitting at the table, but were now also joined by Cipher. They were playing a makeshift tabletop game with the Ranger Keys. In front of each other player, they had their own portion of the keys placed in front of them, with the upright ones being in play, while there was also a pile of keys they could draw from, and dice. Off to the side was the Treanger (Treasure & Ranger) Box, where they all could pick out new keys to draw from, a deck of playing cards, and a piece of paper tallying their life and score.

In front of Gai were the GoRed, TimeBlue and BoukenYellow keys, while the Go-On Gold, TimeFire and KingRanger keys were in his draw pile; Rize had Go-on Green and Black, as well as the RyuuRanger Key in play, with the KabutoRaiger, AbareBlack and MagiShine keys were in his deck; while Cipher had NinjaWhite, Black and Yellow, and Shurikenger Keys upright, and off to the side BoukenPink, Blue and Red's keys.

Tensions were high between the trio as Gai reached out to the deck of cards and pulled out a card, leaving it face down. After they simultaneously nodded at each other, each player flipped their cards. Gai a 5 of spades, Rize a 2 of diamonds, and Cipher a King of Hearts.

"Alright, Gai, showdown." Cipher and Gai picked up their respective dice and rolled them. The former rolling a six, while Gai rolled a four.

"Ah man!" The silver pirate cried out.

"Come on buddy, you know what I want." Cipher made a 'come hither' gesture as Gai handed over his BoukenYellow key. Cipher chuckled victoriously as he placed the yellow Ranger Key next to his draw pile, then reached out to the brown box and quickly pulled out another key. Looking down at his palm, Cipher took a deep breath as he opened his hand, revealing the BoukenBlack key. "Yeah baby!" Grabbing all of the Boukenger Keys, Cipher placed them together and onto his playing field. "I'll combine these to create DaiBouken, and gimme them five points son!"

"Yeah yeah," Rize sighed, combining his annoyance and enjoyment, writing up the new tally. "Alright, the scores now are Gai with one-fifty points, Cipher, you're catching up with one-twenty, and I'm still trailing behind at one-hundred."

"Still regretting that pass-up from the fourth match, huh?"

Rize let out a groan. "How would I know that ShinkenGold's key was the next key I'd draw! God! I'm so fucking salty right now!"

While the three continue to play, the other Gokaigers just watched them enjoy themselves.

"I'll be honest, a part of me is surprised…but another part of me isn't," Don stated.

"They do seem to be having quite a grand time though," Ahim added on, somewhat eager to join in.

"You guys can join in if you want," Rize called out, "we're currently having a wager going on."

"What kind of wager?" Luka stepped forward, eager to get in on the action.

"Yakiniku."

"Barbeque?!" Marvelous and Don asked at the same time. The captain licked his lips and cried out, "I'm in!" as he and Don went over to the table.

Ahim couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's enthusiasm. She then turned to Joe and asked, "Will you be playing with us, Joe?"

Joe sighed, keeping up his stoic façade, "Depends on what the rules are."

The princess continued smiling as she and the swordsman joined in on the fun.

Late at night, after everyone had their fill of delicious grilled meats, Rize and Cipher were up on the lookout tower, taking a moment to enjoy the quiet starry night.

"I gotta say, that was some damn good meat," Rize huffed out satisfactorily. "Thanks for meal Cipher."

The helmeted man dropped his head. "I knew I never should've bet against a cheat."

"Oh come on," Rize leaned against the railing and looked at his partner, "It's not like you knew that Luka had that King up her sleeve."

"Oh fuck you," Cipher exasperatedly chuckled. There was a moment of silence between the two friends, before Cipher spoke up. "So, how was your first week as a pirate?"

"Way too eventful for my liking," Rize answered without missing a beat. "I mean, it's nice to have others to hang out with, but you should know, I'm a man who likes his alone time." Rize pursed his lips in thought. "That said, thanks for the bonding chance, Cipher."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't act coy Cipher, I might not be the smartest of the bunch, but I do know when there's ulterior motives at play."

"What's the real reason?"

"I wouldn't trust myself to go out with the people I already know, let alone a bunch of space pirates. The fact that you got me to hang out with these guys already told me that something was amiss."

"I guess I wasn't too subtle about it, huh?" Cipher asked.

Rize shook his head. "So, you ever gonna tell me how you know Marvelous in the first place?"

Cipher let out a small snort. "Not much to say honestly. During my travels, I just happened to bump into the Red Pirates when they were searching for Ranger Keys. I offered my services to help them with their search, and things just went on from there."

"…So, you were there when Basco betrayed you guys?"

Rize's question was met with silence. Knowing that his friend wasn't going to be able to say anything more, the Rider placed a comforting hand on Cipher's shoulder then headed back into the cabin.

Cipher had tried to find the courage to continue the conversation, but was unable to once Rize had descended from the tower. Letting out a remorseful sigh, Cipher couldn't help but remember the last time he had met with the Red Pirates.

It was sundown when Cipher stood at the bowsprit of the Gokai Galleon. Staring out at the violet sunset, the helmeted man collected his thoughts as he was trying to find a way to break the news to his fellow crewmembers. While he had enjoyed the camaraderie with the Red Pirates, Cipher knew that he could not be with them forever, as he had his own journey to follow.

Taking in a deep breath, Cipher calmed his nerves as he then spoke up. "Another beautiful sunset, isn't it Red?"

"That it is," a heroic responded. Walking up the bowsprit was AkaRed, a fellow helmeted man wearing a vibrant red suit with a popped collar. The embodiment of all Red Sentai Warriors had a crimson visor with a gold 'V' over his forehead and a silver mouthguard with lips; around his waist was a black belt with a red buckle with a large golden 'V' over three silver 'Xs'; and on the left side of his chest was a golden badge with the number '35' on top of a 'V'.

"Marv and Basco having dinner?"

"Yes, but they're waiting on you to join them."

"Ah, well, I suppose I shouldn't keep them waiting." Cipher turned around and walked past AkaRed.

"You don't have to feel guilty about leaving," AkaRed called out. "Marvelous and Navi would understand."

"I know…but it's just something I can't help, you know?" AkaRed nodded understandingly. "So, you won't mind if I tell them tonight?"

"Of course not."

Cipher chuckled. "Thanks Red." The man in black then turned around to continue making his way back, before stopping. "You know, that piece of shit Basco is planning something, right?"

"I am aware. But even so, we cannot act on those instincts."

"I know that you cannot Red. But I'm not on the same moral ground as you. Just let me do this, and save you the trouble in the future."

"Cipher," AkaRed's voice took an unmoving and serious turn. "I know that you mean well. But I cannot allow you, because if Marvelous finds out, then he'll lost trust in both of us."

Cipher was about to retort, but then stopped as he took a moment to understand AkaRed's point. Considering that there were only five members in the Red Pirates, the second Marvelous noticed foul play, he would not only lose trust in himself and AkaRed, but also potentially follow Basco in turning against the Sentai Warrior.

"You know this could turn badly for you, right AkaRed?" Cipher asked.

"I know," AkaRed nodded, "but even so, I will take responsibility for my actions, and place my faith in Marvelous to do what he believes is right."

Cipher remained silent as he nodded at AkaRed's words, before heading off into the main cabin.

'I suppose things turned out alright in the end,' Cipher thought to himself as he sighed and shook his head.

"You know, you have nothing to be guilty for," Marvelous said as he climbed up the tower's steps and stood beside Cipher.

"Do I?" Cipher asked. "Because in hindsight, I probably should've ignored Red and killed Basco."

"In hindsight, it would've made things a heck of a lot easier for me and my crew. But to be honest, I would have definitely turned against you guys if you did that shit back then."

Cipher chuckled, but still kept his head down. "It's not just that Marv…I should've come back when Basco turned. I knew he was going to, but I didn't know when."

"He was probably counting on that," Marvelous responded, "when you left, we only found about half of the keys. It wasn't until we found the last key that he betrayed us. By then, you were long gone."

"But-"

"Cipher." Marvelous called out, forcing the helmeted man to stop talking. "While there would have been a time that I did blame you for not coming back to help me and AkaRed, I no longer hold that grudge. I've found something worth fighting for, maybe it's time for you to also find what you want to fight for."

After giving his advice, Marvelous left the tower. Cipher was now alone with his thoughts, no longer was he given the opportunity to distract himself from his feelings. Letting out a shaky breath, the man in black closed his eyes and calmed himself.

'I know that I have something to fight for,' Cipher thought to himself, 'the question is, whether I am capable of protecting it.'

The next day, Rize was out grocery shopping with Cipher in tow.

"Man, ever since we've gotten here, it seems like we've buying food for the pirates every other day…we're not eating their whole supply, are we?" Rize was met with silence. "Cipher?"

'Huh, what?' Cipher sputtered out, 'Oh, sorry, uh, no. I'm sure we're not going through their food.'

"Is everything okay? You've been pretty moody lately. Anything you want to talk about?"

'No, it's nothing. I'll be fine. Thanks for asking though.'

"Hey, I'm your friend. And anyways, I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to."

'I know Rize-' Cutting Cipher off was the sound of panicked cries. 'Oh great.'

With bystanders running past Rize, he stood in place and started warming up as he observed the enemy advancing towards him.

In addition to the usual straggling Zangyack henchmen, there were four Kamen Riders leading them.

The first was Another Agito, a dark and drab organic Rider with gold wrist and ankle bands, short blades extended out of his forearms, a large gold and silver belt with a dark red orb. His head had red bug-like eyes, a golden mouthplate, and horns protruding from his forehead.

The second was Tiger, a black-suited knight-like Rider with silver and navy-blue armour. His chest piece had a short cape-like armour with a pair of claws over the ends of his shoulders, wrapped around his waist was a V-Buckle and a navy-blue Advent Deck with a gold tiger face, and his helmet resembled a tiger's head with whiskers along his cheeks, and three black horizontal lines on his visor.

The third and fourth were a pair of identical Riders with different colour palettes, PunchHopper and KickHopper. Both grasshopper-themed Riders had long pointed tips coming out from their shoulders, tri-tipped helmets with a gold mouth plate, an 'X' over their chest, and around their waist were their respective Hopper Zecters, with PunchHopper's bronze-red Zecter facing the right, while KickHopper's green Zecter faced the left.

PunchHopper had a silver and bronze colour scheme, white bug-eyed visors, and on his right arm was his anchor jack, a grasshopper-like limb that allows the bronze Rider to use tachyon energy to perform a powerful finisher. KickHopper was silver and green, with red bug-eyed visors, and had his anchor jack on his left leg.

"Well, it's a good thing we haven't bought anything yet," Rize muttered as he readied himself for combat.

But before he could act, an overwhelming pressure caused the Rider to lock up. His breathing grew heavy as he heard footsteps clacking towards them, causing Rize to turn and face the newcomer.

'Who is that?' Rize thought to himself.

"Enigma?" Cipher muttered in shock.

The silver masked man drabbed with a tattered brown cloak strode down the pathway, walking past a frozen Rize as he then grabbed the lapel of his cloak and tossed it towards the Zangyack and Copy Riders.

Another Agito slashed the cloak into threads with his armblades but was surprised to see that Enigma was not in front of them. It was when they heard a Gormin's cry that the Copy Riders turned around to see that all the Zangyack forces with them had already been disposed of by the man in grey.

"He took out all of those Zangyack henchmen in seconds…" Rize muttered in awe, "Cipher, who is this guy?"

"Enigma…he's the same as Null and I. Our older brother essentially."

"Older brother?"

"STRIKE VENT!"

Tiger, now equipped with the Destclaws, a pair tiger-paw like gauntlets with long claws, began slashing at Enigma wildly.

Enigma saw the attacks coming from a mile away and avoided the slashes with ease. He then parried Tiger's left claw, kicked the back of the Rider's knee, forcing the latter to kneel, then finished off with a roundhouse kick to the head. Enigma then swiftly spun around and weaved from side to side as PunchHopper and KickHopper came at him.

The Hell Brothers threw out a flurry of well-coordinated attacks, attempting to surround him, before letting out a tandem punch and kick from opposite sides.

At the last moment, Enigma pivoted away from the Hell Brothers, causing PunchHopper to slam his fist into KickHopper's chest, while the latter kicked the former's stomach. While the Hopper Riders were stunned from the friendly fire, Enigma grabbed a hold on both of their arms and slammed the two into each other, releasing them as they fell to the ground.

The man in grey then ducked as Another Agito came at him with a flying kick. The organic Rider rolled onto his feet and pivoted to chase after Enigma. Another Agito let out an array of calm, yet swift and powerful attacks as he bided his time to look for an opening. Throwing out his left elbow, Another Agito managed to push Enigma back, and then used this chance to slash at the off-guarded man with his right arm blade.

Enigma had raised his arm up to block the attack, causing a yellow-gold aura to appear and stop the blade from cutting into his arm. With Another Agito caught off-guard, Enigma pushed away the Rider's arm and let out a powerful palm strike into his chest.

Another Agito stepped back a couple of times before planting his feet firmly onto the ground. When he tried to continue his assault, Another Agito felt a strange heavy thump against the place where Enigma had unleashed his palm strike.

Stumbling back, Another Agito then looked at his fellow Copy Riders. He noticed that they had not gotten up at all. They were alive, but still like mannequins. The downed Riders then began to glow yellow, with Another Agito also beginning to glow as well.

Enigma lowered his palm and turned around to face Rize, who was completely flabbergasted by the events in front of him. And as the man in grey walked towards Rize, Null's Copy Riders exploded into nothingness.

"Jesus Christ…he took out all of them in seconds," Rize muttered.

"So," Enigma spoke up with a deep voice, "You must be Rize, correct?" Rize nodded dumbly. "Then forgive me, but this is something I must do."

"Rize! Look out!"

When Cipher's warning hit Rize's ears, it was too late as Enigma appeared in front of the latter and palm strike him in the chest. The Rider then flew back and landed on his back, feeling his lungs collapse for a second before regaining breath. Rize then saw Enigma appear above him, letting out an axe kick. Rize's Channel kicked in as he immediately rolled to the side.

Enigma's foot slammed his foot into the pavement, then easily removed his foot from the hole he had managed to dig into the ground. The man in grey hopped back as Cipher appeared before him and threw out a jumping roundhouse, then continued to dodge and weave as Cipher continued to attack.

Cipher threw out a backhanded strike that was blocked Enigma's forearm, the former struggled to push through, while the latter remained as still as a statue.

"Why are you doing this, Enigma?" Cipher asked.

"Playing dumb Cipher?" Enigma retorted.

"You're not the type of person who'd attack without warning."

"I am when they are supposedly one of us."

Enigma pushed back Cipher's attack and went onto the offensive, throwing out brief yet powerful jabs. Anytime Cipher would try to fight back, Enigma could see a mile away, parrying and countering every attack the former tried.

Cipher was struggling to keep up with his brother. Not only was he overpowered by Enigma's attacks, but he also felt his energy dwindling faster. His mind was preoccupied with everything going on and Enigma took advantage of his struggle.

Performing a side kick, Enigma pushed Cipher back a short distance, then charged up his energy. A yellow aura appeared over Enigma's left arm. He curled his fingers into a fist, with each knuckle cracking audibly, and cocked his arm back. Enigma leaned forward and flashed over to Cipher and pushed his fist forward. But he stopped mere millimetres away from contact.

Rize had placed himself between Cipher and Enigma. Cipher froze in shock as he lowered his guard, while Enigma, also caught off guard, had just stopped before landing the punch.

However, even though the punch had stopped to a halt, the force behind it still went through.

Rize coughed up blood and collapsed onto his front.

"RIZE!" Cipher called out to his partner, kneeling beside him as he reverted back to his ethereal form.

Watching his brother trying to heal his student, Enigma looked down at his fist and stared at the blood covering it. Relaxing his hand, Enigma let out a soft grunt and flicked his hand towards the ground, removing all of the blood in the process.

Noticing a new presence running towards them, Enigma summoned an Aurora Curtain and made his escape. But just before he left, he turned around to see the Gokaigers running over to Rize and Cipher, picking the former up as they left the area.

Back in Null's hideout, sparks flew as he and SOUGO sparred. Null wielded a sabre, manoeuvring the curved blade as he blocked the attacks from SOUGO's Revolcane, a long straight sword with a golden quartz-shaped hilt and a red turbine embedded.

Although the Quartzer had only just recovered his strength, he was put through the wringer as Null trained with him almost non-stop.

Their swords were locked again, with SOUGO struggling to push through, while Null held his position passively. The man in white pushed the Quartzer back, forcing SOUGO to stumble a few steps then collapsing onto his knee.

"Getting there," Null commented as he dispersed his sword. Walking up to SOUGO, Null held his hand out to help the former up, but the Quartzer brushed his hand away. Null let out an amused snort and walked away. "Rest up, you'll get a taste of the action soon enough."

Leaving SOUGO to his own devices, Null made his way into a dark, sterile room with a bright fluorescent light hanging over a long table with a cloth draped over it. Underneath the cloth was a human-shaped lump. Null pulled the cloth off the table and stared at the figure lying underneath.

It was a youthful looking man, with long, feathery brown hair dressed in a grey and maroon pirate outfit. The man looked like he was at peace, which had been disturbed when Null lightly tapped the former's cheek with the back of his gloved hand.

"Hey, Basco, get up."

Snapping his eyes open, Basco ta Jolokia sat up and looked around the dark room, before landing his eyes on Null.

"Well, this is quite the surprise," the pirate chuckled, "Didn't think you'd be the first person I'd see."

"Considering who you are? I'm surprised," Null deadpanned.

Basco got off the table and stretched his body. "So…I'm guessing it's time for me to step up then?"

Null nodded as he held out a black, velvet buccaneer hat and a to the pirate. Basco let out a sly grin as he took the hat and placed it on his head.

"Well then, looks like I'll be seeing you again sooner than I expected, Marv."


Thank you for reading my latest chapter.

I wanted to kind of do a slice of life kind of thing, where Rize and Cipher, mainly Rize in this case I suppose, are just doing everyday stuff.

Hopefully it's not too terrible, but I feel like there are some things that I could improve on.

Anyways, I've decided to add some new OCs as well (as if the ones I've already added aren't enough). They're not going to be main characters, but you'll see them throughout.

I've planned and drafted my next chapter/s, but I've come yet again at my own roadblock where I question if this story is worth continuing.

I have some things that I hope might be cool for others to read, but I always doubt myself with these things.

Alright, enough of my bitching.

See you all later.